The Rules of Ouija
by saysKK
Summary: When using a Ouija board, rules can be very helpful and important. Rebecca is a spirit who knows who Braxtany's next boyfriend is, but all Brax knows is his last name: Jonas.
1. Chapter 1

Kayla began the seance. "The rules of Ouija are as follows:

Never play alone.

Never let the spirits count down through the numbers or go through the alphabet as the can get out of the board this way.

If the planchette goes to the four corners of the board, it means we've contacted an evil spirit.

If the planchette falls from the Ouija board, a spirit will get loose.

If the planchette repeatedly makes a figure eight, it means that an evil spirit is in control of the board.

If we get an evil spirit, we have to turn the planchette upside down and use it that way.

The board must be 'closed' properly, or evil spirits will stay behind and haunt us.

You shouldn't use the board if you're ill or weakened, it'll make you more vulnerable to possession. We'll all be fine.

The spirit of a Ouija board can create 'wins' for you. You'll end up becoming more and more dependant and addicted. That's called 'progressive entrapment.' If you get too into it, I'm gonna take you off the board.

Evil spirits will try to win you over with lies and false flattery.

Always be respectful; never upset the spirits.

If you place a silver coin on the board, no evil spirits will have the ability to come through. We don't have one.

Never ask about God, when or how you're going to die, how to get money.

We've got to ask the spirit three times if it's a good spirit. For some reason, they always tell the truth on the third try.

DO NOT ask the spirit to prove it's abilities. That's one of the most dangerous things you can do.

NEVER leave the planchette on the board if you aren't using it. NEVER!

Never, ever, try to talk to a spirit who won't tell you it's name.

If anything weird happens, we put the board away. No exceptions.

There are more, but they don't apply to us at the current time. Got it??" Kayla finished.

I nodded, as did everyone else in the room.

"One more thing," she said, "we need a virgin."

Everyone stared at her, confused as to what that had to do with anything.

"A Ouija virgin!" Kayla shouted. "That's you, Brax."

I had never used a Ouija board before. I had said I was going to so many times before, but everytime I chickened out. I wasn't afraid to do anything, as long as it didn't envolve ghosts or spirits. That was the one thing I couldn't handle.

"Braxtany? You okay?" I shivered, but still, I nodded. I could do this.

"Alright then," she said. "Everyone put your hands on the planchette. Don't lean on anything, let them sort of float in the air. Don't put pressure on the planchette."

As soon as everyone's hands were on the pointer, Kayla began a prayer.

"Lord, bless this gathering. Protect us from any evil that means to cause us harm. We seek only to communicate for knowledge and mean no harm to the spirits or ourselves. It is not forbidden knowledge we seek to know and we do not offer ourselves as open to any unfriendly or unhealthy entities."

We hadn't even contacted a spirit yet and my arms were shaking.

"Are you sure you're all right, Brax?" Kayla was a very serious person, but she did like to have fun everynow and then.

I tried to say yes, but it sounded more like a sqeal. I nodded instead.

"Everyone just stay silent, be patient for a bit." Kayla said, and everyone listened.

After a few minutes of silence, my arms just wanted to fall into my lap, but I held them up.

"Okay," Kayla said. "Spirits, are you there? If you are, please go to yes."

I thought about how strange it would be if it went to no. I guess the spirit's can lie, but that would be the stupidest thing ever. It's like saying, "Is anyone home?" and getting a reply of "no."

The planchette stayed at the same spot. "Kayla, I don't think it's working." I said.

"Be patient Brax, it'll--" the planchette started to move. It wasn't swift and quick like you see on TV, but more slowly, sort of shaking beneath our hands.

"It's moving," someone said.

"It doesn't feel like someone's pushing it, either," Kayla said. "You can feel the pressure when someone is."

It wasn't a person. Oh no. I thought I was going to faint. I got a teribble stomach ache and my knees started to buckle. It was a good thing I was on the floor.

The pointer had only moved about an inch when it started gliding up to the yes.

_Oh God. _I thought. The spirits are going to kill me. No, no. It could be a good spirit. It could still be a person.

It stopped at yes."Okay, if it goes back to the starting spot, it's done." Kayla said.

It started to move back to the cross where the planchette starts.

"Are you still okay, Brax?" she asked.

"Uh huh. A little freeked out, but I'm okay."

"Okay," Kayla said, then addressed the spirits. "Spirit, please tell us your name."

It took a while but the pointer began to move again.

It started spelling out it's name. The planchette went to S. It moved to E, T, H, and then back to the cross.

I didn't know much about how to use a Ouija board, but I knew stories. Seth was a very popular Ouija board spirit. I was totally creeped out. Kayla must have noticed that I was scared; she knew who Seth was as well. "Let's refresh." she said. "Everyone take your hands off." She turned the board upside down, and placed the planchette upside down on it as well.

"Everyone put your hands back on," she said. It was very hard to fit all of our hands on the board at the same time. Kayla said a few things and turned the board back over as well as the planchette.

We went through the "are you there?" and asked "what's your name?"

The pointer slid up to R, then E, B, E, C, C, A. The spirit's name is Rebecca.

Kayla then asked, "Are you a good spirit?" The planchette glided up to 'yes' and then back to the cross. We asked again, "Are you a good spirit?" Again, it went to yes.

One last time, "Are you a good spirit?" This was the third try. It had to be the truth. The planchette slid up to 'yes.'

_Thank you, _I thought.

"Let's ask about Brax, since she's the virgin here," someone suggested. The only person in the room I recognized in the dark was Kayla.

"Oh, no," I said. "There is no way I'm going to listen to what a spirit says about me."Kayla gave me a look and said to the spirits, "Who will Braxtany's next boyfriend be?" She had a certain sound in her voice that she used when she was talking about boys.

"Kayla, I said no questions about--" the planchette began to move.

It was gliding, quickly, swiftly, but the time seemed to last forever.

"Umm... if I close my eyes, will you tell me what it says?"

"Why don't you want to know who you're next boyfriend will be?" someone asked from across the circle.

"I, umm, just, tell me. Please." I closed my eyes. The time seemed to go by a bit faster than it did before, but it still seemed to take quite a while.

"J" someone said.

"No. Don't tell me until after it's all spelled out," I said.

It seemed to take forever, still.

Finally, someone spoke. "It said Jonas."

"Jonas?" I asked. "I don't know anyone named Jonas."


	2. Chapter 2

"Jonas?" I asked. "I don't know anyone named Jonas."

I mean, seriously? Do you? That's the most out of date name I've ever heard.

"Ummm… my cousin's name is Jonas," someone from the back said. Huh. What do you know? Someone named Jonas.

"Well, I don't know your cousin, now do I?"

"Well, you can meet him! He gets out of Juvy in about—" he stopped talking when I made a face.

"Let's ask the board where you'll meet!" Kayla suggested.

"Oh, no, I am not going to use that board again." Even if it was a person who moved the planchette, it was still creepy.

"Oh, come on, Brax. You're the only one here who's afraid of something going wrong. You're ruining all of our fun!"

Yeah. Pick on the virgin.

Kayla looked at me as if she were about to cry. I knew she wouldn't, she never does, but for some reason I couldn't say no.

"Fine."

"Yay!" she said. "Everyone, hands back onto the planchette!"

I reluctantly placed two fingers on the pointer, as everyone else placed their fingers on the planchette excitedly.

"Spirits, where will Braxtany and 'Jonas' meet?" Kayla asked, giving her smile along with the 'boy' voice.

Maybe it won't move this time, I thought, but I knew it would. If it had moved before, it was going to move again.

The planchette shook and I nearly screamed.

"Brax, stop, it's fine," Kayla said. That's when I realized that the pointer was only shaking because my hands were shaking it.

I tried to relax. It wasn't easy, but I closed my eyes and thought about happy things.

My family. A hot fudge sundae waiting for me at home with my family at the dining room table. My Yorkie, Harley, staring up at me with those pleading eyes for some icecream. I instantly relaxed.

That was only for a few moments, though, as the planchette began to shake again. It wasn't my fingers trembling this time, though.

It began to glide, slowly, but smoothly, across the Ouija board. B. A. T. H.

"Bath?" someone questioned.

"Sshh," Kayla said, "It's not done yet. Maybe it'll say some thing strange, like 'Bath and Body Works.'" That would be a strange place to meet someone.

The planchette slid up to R, then O. It stayed at O for a while before moving on to M.

"Bathroom?" I said. That's even weirder. But, atleast I kept my eyes open the whole time. "That's strange. The chances are very high that the only bathroom's I go into are either at my house, you're house, or labled 'women' on the door," I said to Kayla. She nodded.

"I don't know," she said.

"Whatever, I'm done." I dind't care much for having my future told by a board that has contact with 'spirits.'

"But Braxtanyyyy," Kayla protested. "We've only asked two questions!"

"Well," I said, "You can still ask more, just without me. I am very tired, and the fact that the room is dark and we all whisper isn't helping. G'night." I said.

I didn't realize I needed a ride home until after I was outside, the door locked behind me.

If I knocked on the door, or window, chances are they wouldn't hear me. Even if they did, it would probably scare them, you know, with the spirits and all.

The mall was only about a mile from Kayla's house. I decided I'd walk.

The cold whether didn't help make the walk seem shorter, especially when the icy rain started stinging my face.

This probably wasn't the best place for a girl like me to be walking all alone at nine o'clock at night. I realized that when a few wolf whistles came from behind me.

Each time, I turned around, but there was no one there.

When I finally reached the mall, I was thankful to be on the right side of the highway.

The parking lot was huge, but I ran the whole way in. I almost got hit by some moron in a silver Mercedes twice before I made it inside.

The mall was always either way too hot or way too cold. You have no idea how much better I felt when I walked inside the sweaty hot building.

After walking for such a long time, I had to go to the bathroom so badly.

I ran through the mall with old women screaming behind me, their husbands waving their canes at me for 'scaring the bejeezes out of them.'

I had to go so badly, I guess I hadn't been paying much attention to which door I'd ran through.


	3. Chapter 3

I stepped out of the bathroom stall and saw something I wasn't expecting to see.

It wasn't the normal white wall I see when I step out of the stall. There was a man's back.

I almost screamed at him to 'get out, you pervert!' but then, I saw the urinals. All along the rest of the wall.

I slowly backed up into the stall, again. After locking the door, I turned around and leaned my back against it, waiting for the swing of the door that tells me he left.

When I finally heard it, I made sure that he left, not someone else had come it.

It was silent.

I slowly opened the door so infinitesimally that no one could see in, but I could see out. The room was empty.

I unlocked the door and swiftly moved to the sinks and ran my hands under the water. Of course they were out soap. They always are. Well, I can't say I know if they're always out in the men's room. They probably don't even wash their hands....

I dried my hands and moved to the door.

I pushed it open slightly and saw nothing but the dingy wall to the mall's emergency exit hallway. Thank God.

I was planning just to move straight across to the girl's bathroom before anyone saw me, but instead the door stopped about half way open and I heard a loud _clunk._

I peeked around the door, hoping to see nothing.

Instead, I saw a hand pressed against the back of a head of curly bwown hair.

The two seconds it took for him to turn around seemed to last forever as I couldn't move my feet. They seemed to be nailed to those two places.

His brown eyes were squinted when he turned around and looked at me.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry!"

He laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"I'm sorry," he said, "It's just that you came out of the _men_'s room."

I frowned.

"Again, I'm sorry," he said.

I sighed. "No, I'm sorry, I should have been more careful. _And_ went into the right bathroom," I added.

"I'm Nick," he helled out his hand.

"Brax," I said as I shook it.

"Umm... well, Brax..." he motioned towards the bathroom.

"Umm, yeah, here," I moved out of the way.

After watching the door swing shut behind him, I walked back down the hallway.

Not long after the bathroom incident, I was standing in the center of the mall. I stared down the three wings that led to Sears, JC Penny, and Boscovs.

I had no money, so no matter which way I went, it wouldn't matter. Whatever I wanted now would be gone by next week when I could come back.

I decided to settle with Starbucks, right in the center of everything.

I ordered a Pumpkin Spice frappaccino with a cream base. It's only available until Thanksgiving, so I'd better drink up!!

I grabbed a seat in one of the empty tables and slowly sipped my frappaccino.

The time passed quickly, and when my cup was about half empty, heard a familiar soft voice talking to the lady at the register.

Well, it wasn't familiar like I really know the person, but more like I had just heard the voice.

I turned to see the soft, bouncy brown hair from earlier being handed three lattes.

He turned around and must have seen me because he smiled and waved.

I smiled and waved back and he came to sit down across from me.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked.

Too late now, but I didn't mind of course. "Of course not!" He smiled.

His eyes were focused on a group of girls that seemed to be searching for something.

When he saw that I'd noticed, he pulled out a pair of sunglasses and turned his chair slightly away from the open wall that exposed us to the rest of the mall.

He put his hand up as if to hide his face before speaking again. "So, umm, how's your frappaccino?" he asked.

"Umm... good I guess."

He opened his mouth to speak again, but all I heard were the screaming girls.

"Oh my God! It's Nick Jonas!!"

Someone else screamed "Who's that girl he's with?!" but I didn't notice.

I was focused on something else.

My mind was stuck on Nick _Jonas_.


	4. Chapter 4

I don't know how I ended up sitting at the table alone, but I looked like such a pig with my frappaccino and the three other latte's sitting there.

Great. Nick was gone. He left his lattes.

Who were those girls, anyway? Who was _he_? I mean, no one just freaks out like that over a random guy that they see at a mall. No one just freaks out like that over some boy they know.

He was Nick Jonas. But who _was_ he? I don't know.

I intended to find out.

_Oh crap,_ I thought, _my mom's coming to pick me up at Kayla's._

I checked the time on my watch. It was almost ten, the mall would be closing soon, and my mom was picking me up at ten.

I searched my pockets for a quarter, planning to use one of the pay phones. Yes, I my mall still has pay phones. When I found my pockets empty, I knew I had to walk all the way back to Kayla's place. More like run. There wasn't much time.

I stepped out into the freezing cold rain once again. I could use this as an excuse as to why my cell phone shouldn't be taken away when I get a 300 dollar bill from texting, but she'd just tell me I shouldn't have left in the first place. Whenever I have a good excuse, she knows how to counter it because she 'used to use the exact same ones.' And of course, when I have a comeback to that, I have to bite my tongue because I'm just going to get into more trouble for saying it, even if it would make me win the arguement. That's just how the whole parent rules thing goes.

I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt up over my head and shoved my hands into the pockets. When thunder clapped I started to run.

The entire time I kept thinking about Nick. About Jonas. About Nick Jonas. His hair, his eyes.

Okay, so I just met him, but the Ouija board said I was going to end up with a guy named 'Jonas' as my next boyfriend. That doesn't necassarily have to be his first name, does it? I mean, we didn't even ask for a name. All we said was 'who.'

It didn't seem to take that long to get back to Kayla's when I had Nick on my mind, but it must've taken a while.

There, in the driveway, I saw my mother's white minivan. I quickly ran up to the door and saw my mother's worried face talking on the phone to somebody.

I opened the door and heard her say, "Oh thank God! Here she is. I'm so sorry for bothering you. Thankyou. Bye," as she saw me.

Her worried frown quickly turned into an angry frown. She was furious.

"Braxtany! Where the-- no, you know what? I don't care. As long as your fine, I don't care. And since you appear to be fine, you're grounded. For a month."

"A month?!" I screamed.

"Yes. A month. And that's letting you off easy." My mother continued, "I can make it longer if you'd like! You don't just go wandering off like that!! Especially when you're not with me! How am I supposed to know if you're okay?"

She started the car and turned on the heat, mostly for me. My mother liked the cold.

She stuck out her hand and touched the back of my head. That's what she always does when she suddenly feels all motherly.

The car ride home was driven in silence. I didn't want to think about my punishment, or Nick, because he just reminds me of what I did to get my punishment and makes me think about the punishment again. I counted the trees we passed, instead.

When we finally showed up in front of my house, I quickly jumped out of the car, ran into my house.

I opened the door to my mother's room, grabbed my cell phone, and sprinted back to my own room before locking the door behind me.

I dialed the number for Kayla's house.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kayla, it's Brax."

"Oh my God! How much trouble are you in? Oh my God, oh my God." Kayla's a little bit... yeah.

"Umm, a lot. A lot a lot."

She already knew what all had went on. My mom had gone in to see her's when she found out I wasn't there.

"Well, Kayla, I called because I have to tell you something. Something big. You remember how Rebecca spelled out 'Jonas?'" I asked.

"Uh huh."

"Well, I met some guy named Nick today at the mall. His last name was--"

"You met Nick Jonas?!"

"Umm... yeah, how'd you know?"

"Braxtany, it's Nick freakin' Jonas!!"

"Umm, okay, and who is that?" I recalled the screaming girls searching frantically for him.

"Brax, come over to my house! Right now!"

"Kay, I'm grounded. Remember?"

"Fine, I'll come and sneak you out."

"How much trouble do you want me in?"

"It doesn't matter. This is important. First, we're going to google Nicholas Jonas for you. How could you not know? And second, be prepared for another session with Rebecca."


	5. Chapter 5

There was a slight thud sound on my window. I turned my head to see Kayla hanging on for dear life on the thinnest branch she could possibly stand on and still be called a branch.

I walked over to my window and unlocked it, waving her inside. She climbed over the window sill.

She was being nice and quiet at first, but then she made a face and yelled, "Oww!!"

"Jeez, could you be any louder?" I whisper-shouted at her. Her hand dropped down to her calf where there was a huge scrape.

"Oh." I said, walking into my bathroom. I started throwing open draws, searching for a bandage and some medical tape.

As I said before, I'm not afraid of much except for ghosts, spirits, etc. and I get hurt sometimes, doing those things.

When I finally found what I was looking for, after about five minutes of "what're you looking for?" and "I'm fine's," she looked down at her calf again, and then at the blood covering her hand.

The scrape wasn't that bad, I don't know how it could have possibly bled that much.

"I don't care how fine you think you are," I said to Kayla as I began wrapping up her leg.

"Fine," she muttered.

After wrapping the scrape, I grabbed a dry sweatshirt (why didn't I take the wet one off before?) and then followed Kayla back out the window.

I climb trees all of the time, but Kayla is usually too scared, it's amazing she ever got up. It's also amazing she made it back down without hurting herself. I had grabbed a few Band-Aids just in case.

I looked around, hoping to see that Kayla had brought bikes or something to ride back to her house, but I saw nothing.

I looked over at her with an annoyed expression, about to say, "We have to walk?" but she smiled, a little mischievous smile.

Then she turned her head and stared at the silver pick-up truck I recognized as her brother's. I groaned.

Kayla and I were only fifteen years old, but she always seemed to need to drive. Or maybe it was to annoy her brother, but either way, I didn't like it.

I forgot to mention the one other thing I'm afraid of: Kayla's driving.

"Oh, please Kayla, can't we just bike over or something?"

She gave me a funny look and said, "Noooo," her voice going up and down. "We're going to drive!"

"But Kayla—"

"But Brax!! Then I would've brought the truck for no reason! And besides, we need to take it back somehow."

I groaned again as I watched her hop over to the drivers side of the car.

I jumped into the passenger seat and as soon as I had heard the click of my seat belt Kayla floored it.

I jumped a little in my seat, but then realized I should have expected it. Kayla's always trying to scare me.

She's my best friend; she knows I'm not afraid of anything.

I try not to make seem like her driving is bad. Not for her, but to keep up my (almost) fearless reputation.

Sometimes I think she's purposely driving like the reckless kids my parents curse at just to scare me.

I started to wonder how long we'd been sitting there in silence.

I don't like silence much, so I turned on the radio of Chad's truck.

**Just dance, gonna be okay (da-da-doo-doo)  
Just dance, spin that record babe (da-da-doo-doo)  
Just dance, gonna be okay (duh-duh-duh)  
Dance, dance, dance, just ju-ju-just dance**

Ugh, I thought, I can't stand this song.

I turned off the radio. "Kayla, are we almost there?"

To be honest, I wasn't looking forward much to speaking with Rebecca again.

"Ummmhuummm," she said, with a smile on her face.

I was confused with that smile, but I didn't ask anything.

I watched as Kayla's driveway disappeared in the side view mirrors.

Wait, where are we going??

"Umm… Kayla?"

She turned into the mall driveway before she answered my question. "F.Y.E."

"What? Why are we going to FYE?"

"You'll see."

Kayla pulled into one of the parking spots and opened her door. I followed.

She led me through the mall to the F.Y.E.

We stood at the entrance, and a smile spread across her face.

She grabbed my hand at ran through store, searching for something. Someone came up to ask if she was looking for something and she said no. She must really want to make sure it comes as a surprise. Her smile grew bigger when she looked at one group of CD's. She must have found what she was looking for.

She grabbed three CD's and ran to the counter to pay for them.

She was very careful not to let me see what she was buying.

When we were back in the car, she opened one of the CD's and put it in the disc drive, again, not letting me see what was on the front.

She opened the windows and I felt the freezing rain hitting my face again.

I started to put the window back up, but she said, "No, we'll be on the road soon, it'll blow right past us.

She turned on the stereo and blasted the sound.

**I'll pick you up at 7  
We can drive around and see a movie  
Every scene will have a meaning  
But you'll be the one that moves me  
I've been hurt before  
So baby promise that you're gonna be true  
I'm gonna be be good so tell me that you're gonna be good too  
Yeah**

"This is the most recent CD!" Kayla screamed over the wind coming through the window and the music. "Listen!!"

**You gotta be be good to me  
I'm gonna be be good to you  
We'll be happy as can be  
Just gotta be be good to me  
Baby**

I'm gonna treat you right  
We'll never fight  
Now baby you can trust me  
When I hold you tight  
I feel alright  
I guess that I'm just lucky  
I've been hurt before  
So baby promise that you're gonna be true oh  
I'm gonna be be good so tell me that you're gonna be good too  
Ow

"Whose most recent CD?" I asked.

"The Jonas Brothers!!"

"What?" Over the music, I couldn't here exactly what she said, but I was sure I'd heard the word Jonas.

"THE JONAS BROTHERS!!"

She threw the CD case at me. There were three boys standing in the middle of the street that looked like it was somewhere in New York City.

It was pouring rain and the three boys all stood in suits under black umbrellas.

On the far left stood a boy that I couldn't see, but he appeared to have curly hair. The person in the middle was farther up, but I couldn't see him any more clearly.

He had beautiful straight, dark hair, but like the boy on the left, I couldn't make out his face.

It was the boy on the right that caught my eye. I couldn't see him any better than the other two boys, but I knew who he was.

I'd tell you what I saw, but I've described him to you before.

Nick Jonas was staring at me from the CD cover.

Nick Jonas. My Nick. The Nick I met at the mall today.  
I couldn't focus on the music anymore and for the entire ride I was staring at the face on the CD.

I was surprised when Kayla opened the car door and I thought we were still on the highway.

I opened my door and then, still in shock, I walked up to Kayla's front door.

We didn't say anything to each other until we were up in her bedroom again.

Kayla opened the door to her closet. She dug through the pile of close at the bottom until she found the Ouija bored. I started to wonder how it could end up buried by that mess so quickly. After all, we had just been using it a few hours ago.

She opened the box, turned off all the lights, and we both stared at her glow-in-the dark board.

Kayla began the séance again with the usual prayer for safety. Then she asked, "Spirits, are you there?"

Nothing.

"Spirits?" The planchette trembled beneath our fingers. Then it started gliding up to the 'yes.'

The planchette glided back to the cross in the center of the board.

"Are you a good spirit?" she asked. When the pointer slid up to the 'yes' and back to the cross, she repeated the question. "Are you a good spirit?" When the planchette went to 'yes' and back again, she questioned the spirit a third time. "Are you a good spirit."

No.

"Kayla—" I started to say, but she cut me off.

"Brax, it's okay. Let's refresh."

Kayla turned the board upside down and placed the upside down planchette on top of it. We both put two fingers back on the planchette for a few seconds before she flipped both back over.

Once again, she repeated the question.

I started to think about how we'd gotten Seth last time and shuddered. What if we could only get bad spirits?

Relief swept over me when on the third question, the answer was 'yes.'

"Are you Rebecca?" Kayla asked.

No.

"Can you get Rebecca for us?"

Yes.

"Will you get her for us?"

Yes.

"Rebecca? Are you there?" I said, not seconds later.

"Give her some time," Kayla said, but the planchette slid up to yes again.

"Good," I said, "Now—"

"Wait a sec, Brax." She asked two more times if it really was Rebecca. The third time, the answer was yes

"Good," I said, "Now can I ask a question, Kayla?" Oh God, was I nervous.

Kayla nodded.


	6. Chapter 6

Kayla nodded.

I was so anxious to ask a question before, but now I started to wonder if I could even force the words out of my mouth. Whenever I tried to say something, there was no sound.

"You okay, Brax?" Kayla asked.

"Y-yeah."

She nodded in encouragement.

"R-r-rebecca, you said before my next b-boyfriend would be 'Jonas?'" I don't know why I asked that. I knew what she'd said.

I watched the planchette glide up to the 'yes.'

Kayla shot me a no-stalling-get-to-it look.

"Does that mean Nick Jonas?"

Maybe.

"Kayla, what does that mean?" I asked, confused.

"It means it might not be Nick." I gave her an I-know-what-it-means look.

"Well," she said, "Maybe it your next boyfriend will be somebody else with the name Jonas." I knew that, too.

"Who else do I know with that name?"

"Well, you don't. Maybe it's Kevin or Joe."

"Who?" I said.

"Kevin or Joe Jonas. Nick's brothers. The other two on the cover. The Jonas Brothers. I doubt it though, you're closer to Nick's age."

I thought about that.

"Rebecca? Is Kevin Jonas my next boyfriend?"

Maybe.

"Is Joe Jonas my next boyfriend?"

Maybe.

This is driving me insane. "Is my next boyfriend definitely Nick, Kevin, or Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers?"

Yes.

Getting somewhere, I thought.

Kayla asked the next question, "Will you tell us who?"

No.

"'Cause we couldn't see that one coming," I said.

Kayla laughed. "Why not?"

Fun.

"Huh?"

"She means she's having fun watching you wonder." Kayla laughed, apparently this was amusing to her as well.

When I gave her a confused look, she said, "Spirits can have fun, too, Brax," a smile still on her face. "Sometimes it's bad, sometimes they just need a laugh, need to annoy someone. Sometimes, people need to laugh."

"I know that. But why do you have to keep this from me?" I asked, staring at the board. It doesn't feel as weird as you would think, talking to a board.

Although the question was directed at Rebecca, Kayla answered. I knew she would. "Think about it. If I really, I mean really, wanted to know who liked me, and you knew, would you tell me? Wouldn't you have fun watching me suffer?"

I thought about that, and nodded. Kayla really would suffer. She's not one to press for information, unless it's about her. She knows when I don't want to talk about things. She knows when I say I don't want to talk about it, but really do. Then she knows when I need to talk about things, as much as I don't want to, and she knows when I'll give in and when I won't say a word.

"I think we're done for now," Kayla said. "I want to Google the Jonas Brothers before we have to get you home again. It's amazing we made it to F.Y.E. before the mall closed."

I nodded.

"Thank you, Rebecca. We appreciate you letting us know this information—"

"What little information you gave us…" I muttered, interrupting Kayla's goodbye.

She shot me a look and continued. "We will use this information for good, nothing bad, and we thank you for trusting us with it. Hopefully, we will get to talk to you again; I take it you'll find out where this information leads us to. Goodbye."

Kayla removed her hands from the planchette, as did I. She put the board in the box and the box in the closet before pulling out her laptop.

She double clicked the AOL icon and exited out of the sign in screen so that she could just use the internet. I don't know what she has against Internet Explorer.

In the URL bar at the top of the screen, she typed in the web address for Google. Then, in the search bar, she typed "the Jonas Brothers."

The page showed results 1 - 10 of about 18,400,000.

Wow, I thought, it's amazing I haven't heard of them before.

"We don't have time to get information, I'll be filling you in biology," she said as she clicked on the 'images' link. Now it was showing results 1 - 20 of about 1,530,000.

I stared at the pictures on the screen, three boys, two with unfamiliar faces, and one that had the tight lipped smile of Nick from Starbucks.

"That's him!" I said, pointing at the screen.

Kayla smiled. "I kind of figured."

She clicked on one of the pictures. They were dressed in a formal, but casual at the same time, kind of outfit. Something probably only they could pull off. If someone walked into school dressed like them, they'd be pummeled to a pulp in half a second. Unless of course, it was these three gorgeous boys that stepped through the door. I bet I was the only one in my school who didn't know who the Jonas Brothers were.

I glanced at the clock. 11:30.

"Kay, I think I should go."

"Umm…" she glanced at the clock as well. "Oh, definitely. C'mon, I'll drive you."

I groaned.

"C'mon, at least you'll be home fast!!" She was right.

I sighed in defeat.

We walked out to the car. As soon as both of our seatbelts were on, she floored it again, but I was ready for her. She started to fill me in on the Jonas Brothers.

"Well, I'll tell you about them in biology class, but since there's nothing to say here either, I'll start now. The Jonas Brothers are, of course, three brothers who started a band. They were originally on Broadway…"

She filled me in about the Nick and the barber shop, his solo album, and how the three boys became 'The Jonas Brothers.' Although I'd much rather ride home in silence, I was too caught up in the story to let her stop.

That's all we got to though, how they came to be, before we were at my house again.

"See you in Bio!" Kayla said.

"Bye, Kay."

I walked up the tree that was conveniently growing right next to my window. My parents had been talking about cutting it down so it won't fall on the house, and I was glad they hadn't done anything yet. This tree helps me out a lot at night time.

Once I was safely in my bedroom, I thought about getting on my computer real quick to find out more about the Jonas Brothers, but then I realized I was grounded.

I laid in bed thinking about Nick. I was wondering how in the world I was ever going to see him (or his brothers, for that matter) ever again. It wasn't like we had exchanged phone numbers or anything. And I doubt I could find the phone number of the Jonas family online or in a phone book. No one that famous would be stupid enough to have their name listed.

How was I supposed to meet my next boyfriend? Especially when I didn't know who he was just quite yet.


	7. Chapter 7

Being grounded, the time passed slowly, but Biology finally came. I took my usual seat next to Kayla without saying a word. I knew she'd realize I was here.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey."

"Ready for JB?"

"JB? What's that?"

"Jonas Brothers," she said in a 'duh' kind of way.

"Oh."

"Well, let's see… you basically know, or should know about the band in general by now. But what do you about the actual people?"

"Not much. Well, I know that Nick is cute, and sweet, and…"

"So you like Nick already. Nicholas Jerry Jonas: the cute, sensitive one. Sixteen years old, born on September 16th 1992. He's a diabetic and the youngest in the band."

"And you know all this because…?"

"It's basic knowledge, Brax. I haven't even told you anything interesting."

"Fine. What about the others?"

"Well, the oldest is Kevin. Paul Kevin Jonas II: The cute, romantic one. He prefers Kevin to Paul, and he's named after his father. He was born on November 5th 1987." I nodded to let her know I was still keeping up. She started again, "And then there's Joe." She sighed. "Joseph Adam Jonas. He was born on August 16th 1989. He played Shane Gray in Camp rock; he won an award for flamboyant fashion, he—"

"You seem to know an awful lot about this _Joe_." She blushed.

The person sitting at the desk in front of me passed a pile of papers back.

"What's this?" I said to Kayla, maybe a little to loudly.

"This, Miss Simmons, is a pop quiz. Apparently, you haven't been paying attention." I looked up into the red, pumpkin shaped head of my teacher. "If you had been listening, you might have heard me say to pass in your homework, you might have heard me tell you the answers to the questions you didn't understand on your homework, and you might've heard me say that you have a pop quiz, on your homework."

Oh, no, I thought, that homework was worth thirty points. And now I have a quiz on it. And I'm already grounded.

I stared at the questions about igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. I had no idea what it meant by mafic, ultramafic, coarse and fine-grained, foliated and non¬foliated. Science wasn't exactly my best subject.

I started filling in random answers hoping that maybe I'd get some right. Thank God it was multiple choice.  
In what seemed like seconds later, Mr. Reel said, "Pass up your papers, I don't care if your done or not," he looked at me when he said that, "make sure your names at the top, you'll get your scores back tomorrow."  
Reluctantly, I passed up the paper.

"That was the easiest quiz I've ever taken in my entire life," Kayla told me, and she meant it, too. I don't know why she like science so much, but it was the one class we had together.

"Are you kidding me? I probably failed."

"Ooh, your mom'll be pretty mad, now." I nodded.

When science finally ended, we walked out together. We turned our separate ways to get to our classes.

The rest of the day passed slowly, as do most. When I finally made it home, there was nothing to do. I was grounded, remember? All my stuff was in my mom's bag.

She doesn't trust me with my stuff, and I don't blame her. I'd take advantage of the fact that it was there.

I thought about climbing down the tree and finding a way to the mall, but that didn't seem like such a good idea, considering I had no idea when my parents would get home. I could probably trick my dad somehow into driving me, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, as he likes to believe he is.

I lied on my bed and tried to do my homework, but I didn't get much done before I heard the door open. I peeked out my window and was excited to see my dad's car.

I ran downstairs with a fake smile on my face. "Hey, Dad!!"

"Hello, honey!" he said, grinning back at me. "What's gotten you in such a great mood today?"

"Mom didn't tell you? She just called home! Mr. Reel called her at work to tell her about how well I did on my pop quiz today!! And he was talking about how I haven't missed any homework or anything for three weeks!!"

"That's great honey!"

"Thanks! But then mom said I can have my phone back! She told me you have it."

"Oh, yes I do, hon! Hold on a sec, I left it in my baby." He means his car. He's trying to talk 'in,' but he's always complaining about how terrible his car is. It wouldn't be cool either way.

He ran out to his car, got my phone, and jogged back in.  
"Here ya are."

"Thanks, dad!" I said, with a real smile this time. I can't believe it worked!

I ran back upstairs and hit the number 2 speed dial on my phone.

Kayla picked up after the first ring. "Hey! You got your phone back? Awesome!"

"Yeah, Kay, but my mom doesn't now. I had to trick dad again."

"Oh."

"Anyway, can you pick me up tonight? Around 9:00? I'll be in bed by then."

"Why would you be in bed so early? You can't say you don't feel well, they'd check on you."

"I'm grounded."

"Ahhh," she said, understanding. "Where do you want to go?"

"Umm… the mall, I need to walk around someplace other than school or my house."

"Yeah, that's fine, the mall closes at ten tonight, though."

"That's fine, I just need to walk around."

"Alright, I'll be there at nine, give or take a few."

"Okay, see you then."

"Bye."

I hit the 'end' button and started checking messages. I'd surprisingly missed a lot in such a short time, but they were mostly unimportant. A few of my friends were pretty big on chain letters. I wasn't.

I waited impatiently for nine o'clock to come. I knew my mom would come home, and my dad would tell her about my phone, so I decided to save myself just a little bit by putting my phone next to my dad's stuff. It would confuse them a little bit before I got called downstairs.

I wasn't quite ready to be scolded when I heard the keys jingle at the front door. Mom was home.


	8. Chapter 8

"I cannot believe you lied to your father! I cannot believe you took your phone back! I cannot believe you called someone with it! I cannot believe you did all of that when you were grounded!"

I can't believe she's been going on about this for an hour. She continued to drone on about what she can't believe. I just wanted to shout at her, "Than don't believe it! I did nothing!" I'd end up in more trouble, though. I hate when people say that they can't believe what they know, but I am one of those people.

"You were grounded, for God's sake! Did you think you were going to get away with it?" I stared blankly into her face and shrugged. "I know you can respond! Every time you get in trouble you just act like you don't care! Like you don't know what's going on. You just get up and brush it off!" The truth was I didn't care. I don't get in trouble often, but when I do, why listen to her? If I do something, she can't stop that it happened, and even if I'm in trouble, I just break the rules some more. Eventually she gives up.

I got up from my chair while my mother was still talking.

"I just don't under—hey! Where are you going?!"

"G'night, mom." I said as I dragged up the steps.

"I'm not done here yet! I…" but she gave up. I wasn't going to listen, and she knew that. So I walked to my room, without dinner or anything. I locked the door behind me and lied face down on my bed. I sighed.

I must've fallen asleep, because the next second, I was listening to a scraping noise coming from my window. I glanced outside to see Kayla before glancing at the clock. 8:50.

I got out of bed and opened the window for Kayla, but instead of coming inside she said, "Are you ready? You were sleeping."

"I'm fine," I told her. "Let's go."

We climbed down the branches of the tree. I was praying my parents wouldn't hear, as it was still pretty early.

Kayla had brought bikes, today. That was good for two reasons: Kayla's driving is terrible, and the motor won't draw the attention of Mom and Dad. I hopped on the blue bike, while Kayla sat on her purple one.

It would take a while to get to the mall with bikes, but

I guessed we could make it. Kayla interrupted my thoughts. "We're going to drive over to my house to get the truck. I want to make it to the mall before it closes." She laughed.

"Okay," I said, "But do you mind if I drive?"

"Kind of, yeah."

"Oh, please, Kayla?"

"Why do you want to drive?"

"Just 'cause," I said, careful not to give away my fear of Kayla's driving.

"Well… fine. Seeing as it's the one time you've ever asked."

"Thank you, Kay." She didn't reply.

We biked in silence, and soon enough, we were at Kayla's place. She tossed me the keys to Chad's truck, showing a bit of reluctance.

Now, I wasn't the best driver in the world, but anything was better than Kayla behind the wheel of a car. As soon as I pulled out of the driveway, Kayla turned on the radio on. I couldn't tell you what song it was, but the voice sounded a bit familiar.

**I can't get your smile out of my mind  
(I can't get you out of my mind)  
I think about your eyes all the time  
Your beautiful, but you don't even try  
(You don't even, don't even try)  
Modesty is just so hard to find**

Kayla started dancing in her seat. That's who it is. The Jonas Brothers.

Soon enough we were at the mall. We walked in together, but as soon as we got inside, Kayla told me she wanted to look at something in the Payless shoe store, in the Sears wing. I didn't know where to go so I just wondered around for a while.

I stopped in front of the Starbucks and remembered the last time I was there. There was Nick and those screaming girls, three extra lattes on the table, and me, sitting there thinking about what the girls called him. Nick Jonas.

I kept walking around the center of the mall, not going down any of the wings, staying on the first floor, and just walking. I looked in the window of Spencer Gifts and laughed. Some of the things you find these days….

I turned into the store. I love to look at the magnets and license plates. I always think they're so funny, but I'd never buy one. What am I supposed to do with it afterwards? There's no room on the refrigerator, and if

I put the magnets in my locker, well, some aren't exactly appropriate for school. And license plate, well what am I supposed to do with that?

I walked out of Spencer's empty handed. I didn't even think to bring money, anyway. I figured I walk upstairs to find Kayla.

I tried to pull out my phone so that I could text Kayla, but it wasn't in its normal spot.

Oh yeah, I thought, it's at home. With mom. Where I'll never get it.

I was still looking for my phone, you know, the one I don't have, when I reached the top of the escalator. I wasn't paying attention, though, and I fell flat on my face when the moving stair met the unmoving floor.

I didn't even try to get up. I was stunned by my own stupidity.

Then, all of the sudden, there was a hand in front of my face. I followed the arm up to the face of a curly headed boy with a very familiar tight lipped smile. I took the hand and muttered, "Thanks," before I really noticed who he was.

"Nick?"

"Hey, Brax! How're you?"

"I am, well, I would be great, if my knee didn't hurt so much." I laughed as I rubbed my knee. I landed in the funniest position on the floor. He laughed, too. "And you?" I added.

"I'm okay, I guess. Listen, I'm really sorry about last time I was here, with the girls, I don't know what that was about." I did. But I guess he didn't want me to know. I had no idea why, but I went along with it anyway.

"Umm… it's fine. I just remember sitting there thinking about what a fatty I must've looked like, with three lattes and the frappaccino I was already drinking." I smiled.

"Good, I didn't want to seem rude, to leave all of the sudden."

"You didn't." That was a lie, at first, it kind of did, but then I realized that I probably would have ran, too. "Well, I have to go find my friend, I need to be home quickly, so…"

"That's fine, I have to go someplace quickly, too," he said. I started to walk away, but then he said, "Hey, umm, can I have your phone number?"

A smile lit up my face. "Sure! It's just that, I'm grounded, and I don't have my phone with me right now…"

"That's fine. I'll write it on my hand." For some reason, I had trouble imagining someone as famous as Nick writing a phone number on his hand. Wouldn't people notice…?

I recited my phone number for him and he grabbed a napkin from the Cinnabon kiosk and wrote his down for me.

"Thanks," I said, as I walked away to find Kayla.


	9. Chapter 9

"Kayla?" I said, "Kayla, we have to go."

Kayla was sitting on the floor of the Payless, staring at two different shoes. One was a black knee-high boot with a spike heel, the other was an American Eagle silver heeled shoe with straps across the toe that looked like it was sequened.

"Which one?" she said, and looked at me.

"Kay, we have to go."

"Which one?" she pushed.

"The silver one, let's go!"

"Now, I have to pay, though," she complained.

"We have to go, Kayla!"

"Please, can I just pay really quickly?"

"No," I said, "we have to be home soon!" I pushed the button on the side of my phone so that she could see just how late it really was.

She gasped and grabbed my hand before dragging me out of the store. She left both of the boxes and shoes on the floor.

We sprinted out of the mall, into the parking lot. I pulled my hand away from Kayla so I could run faster, hoping to get to the drivers seat first.

"I have to drive!" she said. "I need to drive you home so you can get out and I can get home faster."

I hated to let her drive, but without saying a word, I walked around the truck to the passenger seat.

We drove home without the radio, and without talking. I like to drive in a car at night when it's silent, just looking at the different lights and cars go by. It's kind of weird, but true.

We pulled onto my street and Kayla slowed down a little bit, this way, the car wouldn't be heard from inside the house.

"Thanks," I mumbled as I jumped out of the car. I ran over to the tree growing next to my bedroom. It was hard to see in the dark, but I knew how to get up from climbing the tree so many times.

I was at the top of the tree by my window, but of course, something always goes wrong. I tried to push open my window, but it wouldn't budge.

I couldn't think of a way to get in the house without getting caught so I climbed back down the tree and sat next to the wall of the house, waiting for any ideas to come into my head.


End file.
